Aaron Boone Says Yankees Want to Win: They're Not Acting Like It

The New York Yankees keep falling short of another World Series title. The team that was once given the moniker of "The Evil Empire" for their consistent wins was sent home from the championship in heartbreaking fashion in 2024 and didn't even get there last season.

Manager Aaron Boone was asked by CBS News New York's Otis Livingston if the lack of a ring throughout his tenure as Yankees manager bothers him.

"It bothers me a lot. It's definitely as big a motivator and what drives me to still do this as much as anything," he said. "... that chase to ultimately get number 28 is as big a reason as any and it does bother me."

Oct 31, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; New York Yankees manger Aaron Boone watches a game between the Syracuse Orange and the North Carolina Tar Heels at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

He went on to describe this year's team as hungry for a championship.

"I feel like the last two years its been a really hungry group, I felt that hunger in '24, again with kind of a different makeup and cast last year in a lot of ways it was there, and we gotta develop that hunger," he said. "It seems like guys have that look in their eyes and they're ready and they know what the mission is, but you gotta fight for that."

Yankees Need to Act Like They Want to Win

While Boone said he is hungry for the ultimate win, it doesn't exactly seem like it. Sure, he isn't in charge of which players come to the team (that's GM Brian Cashman's job), but accusations of the run it back Yankees are growing.

The Yankees weren't able to get in done in 2025. Taking down the Red Sox in the AL Wild Card series felt miraculous enough after a midseason skid that sent them to third place in the AL East. Beyond some minor injury updates, including the return of Gerrit Cole, and the addition of new pitcher Ryan Weathers, this Yankees team looks much the same.

On the other side of the country, however, the Los Angeles Dodgers are only getting stronger. Somehow, the Dodgers managed to add tons of star power to an already supercharged team that won two straight World Series. The Yankees may be better than they were last year, but their powerful NL enemies seem poised to blow them out of the water once again.

The team that once fought to get Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter in the same lineup now spends all offseason negotiating with Cody Bellinger about whether he's worth re-signing for five years or six. Bellinger staying in New York is undoubtedly a boost, but doesn't give fans much hope that the 2026 season is going to look meaningfully different from 2025.

Despite Boone's insistence that not winning a World Series title is a serious motivator, it just doesn't seem like that is the case. There's about five weeks left of Spring Training before the Yankees have the opportunity to prove the doubters wrong.

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